Disclaimer, I do not own any part of Howl's Moving Castle or any of the characters.

Quick backstory:

This story takes place after the film, Sophie and Howl are in a committed relationship, Markl is two years older but hasn't grown much, and Calcifer is well...same old Calcifer. The witch of the wastes nor Heen will not be featured in this story.

Birds chirp from a distance not too far away and the warm sun is blanketing part of my exposed skin. Everything is still black as I refuse to open my eyes yet to greet the new day. Some quick footsteps are heard downstairs and I can barely hear someone talking. I continue to lay in bed lazily in protest of having to start my early morning. 'I'm going to stay here forever...or at least for a while longer' I think to myself as I roll over and pull the sheets closer. I smell the faint scent of smoke in the air but mostly bacon...then smoke and bacon...now just smoke.

The footsteps downstairs begin to quicken and the talking is getting louder. I can almost hear what is being said, "Calcifer ... you do!?" "Nothing ...your fault ... not...slave!" "... is...kill us!" I lay motionless waiting for the commotion to die down, but it doesn't. I hear little stomps coming up the stairs that stop right outside my door. 'Please no.' I think to myself squeezing my eyes tight. Then I hear my doorknob turn and I let out a sigh, "Time to get up." I say to myself.

The door bursts open and Markl comes running inside and jumps on top of my bed. I pretend to be asleep. "Sophie are you awake? Sophie?" Markl says in a concerned voice, I stay still. "Sophie?..." He says a bit quieter, leaning in close to see my face when suddenly I jump up from the sheets and grab him causing him to let out a shout and jump. I pull him close to me and begin to tickle his stomach and feet until he begs for me to stop. We stay on the bed letting our laughs out for a while until we catch our breaths. I turn to him and let out a big smile while pulling him into a hug. I've never had kids before nor have I ever had a sibling so young but I imagine this is how it would be like. I honestly love Markl as if he were my own son and I don't think there's anything that could make me angry at him, especially when I see his crazy orange hair. "Sophie, don't be mad but the kitchen caught fire." (I facepalm inside my head) Markl says quietly, so quietly it was almost as if he didn't want me to hear it. Suddenly that innocent, sweet love I had for the little boy temporarily decreased by one percent.

"It's alright Markl, I'm sure Howl will be able to fix the kitchen up quick!" Thank God for Howl, if it weren't for his magic it would take me half the day to clean that kitchen. "Yeah..." Markl says burying his face in the blankets to hide from me. "Master Howl's not here...he said he wouldn't be back until tonight." I continue to lay still before sitting up in bed letting out a BIG sigh this time. "And why didn't he tell me he was leaving?" I keep my eyes closed to try and not get a migraine. "He said he didn't want to wake you up, it wasn't my fault though!" Markl finally got up showing me his face, then went on. "I wanted to make you breakfast as a surprise but Calcifer put the fire too high and burned all the food. Then he got angry and his flame got even BIGGER and some things got burned and the kitchen got full of smoke. But it wasn't my fault!" It was like watching a little lawyer in court making his final case. His expressions and gestures would change with every justifying statement. "Please don't be mad Sophie." Markl said with the saddest face almost making ME feel guilty when I didn't even have part in the fiasco. "Markl you know it's almost impossible for me to be angry at you." Markl began to smile.

"Although!" Markl's smile faded. "You know you're not supposed to use the fire on your own! Just because you've learned how to control Calcifer doesn't mean you can use him by yourself. What if you would have hurt yourself!? Or burned down the whole house?! Howl's not here so we would have been on our own. Why were you so eager to use it on your own?" I say wagging my finger. "Well, I figured it would be a nice gift..." Markl says bowing his head, he knows what he did was wrong but he had good intentions and I could never punish him for trying to do something nice. "Gift? For what- oh nevermind. How about we get dressed and we'll go out and get breakfast together?" I say pulling him into another hug and giving him a kiss on his head. "Really!?" He says squeezing onto me, for a moment I could have sworn he had sparkles in his eyes. "Yes. Where do you want to go? The farmers market, the bakery?" Markl thinks for a minute then decides I should choose where we go. We both get up and out of bed and head downstairs.

The kitchen is in shambles, there is still smoke in the room, and there are a few broken plates and glasses on the floor. Markl doesn't say a word in hopes I don't lash out on him, but of course, Calcifer is the first to speak up. "Sophie don't listen to him! This was all Markl's fault! He told me to put my fire higher and left me alone! Then he wouldn't give me the eggshells and yelled at me when the food burned, he knows my fire raises when I'm angry! He thinks I'm his slave but I don't work for kids like him!" Cal could go on for days but I didn't have the mental stability to continue, I was too busy wondering where Howl went. He's been more absent than usual lately. He always tells me when he's leaving and never leaves for long anymore. It almost felt like before when I first started staying here. Howl would just leave, hardly saying a word and not show up for the rest of the day- covered in bruises and marks. He knows it worries me so much.

While zoning out into my thoughts I can still hear Calcifer arguing with Markl next to me. I'm not dealing with this today. "Stop!" I shout at both of them finally creating some silence. "I'm not dealing with this right now. Nope, not now. Markl, get your shoes were leaving." I say putting on the hat I made long ago. Markl runs to put on his shoes. "But Sophie, won't Howl be upset if the kitchen is dirty?" Calcifer says shrinking into a small flame. "It will take Howl five seconds to clean this kitchen, it would take me five hours. Howl can clean it when he gets home!" I say in a passive aggressive tone unlocking the front door and changing the dial to the city market. Howl changed the dial options a short time after we resettled. One went to the cities market (big lively place with lots of shops and restaurants for us to pass the time and do the shopping), one went to the wastes (I told him to get rid of it but he said for safety purposes we should keep it), one to our secret place, and the last one...I still don't know where it went to. Howl forbids me to ever look and I honor his request.

I tip my hat to Calcifer before opening the door and exiting with Markl at my side. The sun was strong and bright, the air was pretty clean (compared to the inside of our home) but still refreshing due to the fact that we don't get out much these days. Typically Howl would insist on me waiting for him to come home before heading out but I needed to get out for a bit. Howl's been so overprotective recently, he won't let me do anything. If I must go out for something he insists that I at least take Markl with me. "He might not be the strongest wizard yet but I know I can at least rely on him to keep you safe." Howl made Markl jump for joy after saying that. It meant Markl really was progressing and was on track to be a great wizard, so now he gets to accompany me if I truly need a change of pace. Really quite annoying to be honest, he doesn't let me carry anything around the house, won't let me clean the bathrooms anymore, or go up on the balcony to look outside. I know Howl means well but really I'm 20 years old, I AM able to take care of myself.

Without thinking, I end up walking into a dead end alleyway and Markl stops me. "Sophie, where are you going?" He asks tugging at my sleeve to turn me the other way. "Oh sorry Markl, I was thinking about something and didn't realize where I was going." I say continuing our walk. "You know Sophie, you've been out of it a lot recently and you look pale too, do you feel alright?" He asks stopping us at a bench so I can sit down for a little. "A lot? Really?" I ask him surprised. "Yeah, the other day you were putting the plates away where the silverware goes and you've burned dinner three times this week already, that never happens. Also remember you were walked into my room the other day, stood there for a minute, and said you had forgotten why you came to me."

I look from Markl up to the sun, "Have I really been that bad? Maybe I am coming down with something." I ask myself and wonder if maybe that's why Howls been absent more than usual lately, maybe he's annoyed by my absentmindedness. Although now is not the time to think about that, I stand back up and take Markl by the hand. "Well either way, I'm sure a nice, hot, breakfast will clear all that up, right? How about we go to the bakery? I hear they have a new chef, better than the last one." Markl smiles at me and we walk off towards the bakery to have our food and enjoy the morning.

BACK AT THE HOUSE

Calcifers flame grows larger as he sees the dial switch on the front door. Howl quickly walks up the steps but stops right at the edge of the kitchen shocked by the disaster in front of him. "Calcifer, what happened to the kitchen?" He calmly asks then quietly coughs at the faint smell of smoke still lingering in the air. "Well, Markl wanted to make Sophie breakfast as a surprise but ended up burning everything." Calcifers fire shrinks slightly which Howl notices. "So Markl cooking breakfast managed to set the towels on fire...That are six feet away from you? And managed to turn the stove top black?" Howl runs his finger over the stovetop examining the black soot on his finger, then rubbing it off on a nearby dishtowel.

"I may or may not have had a hand in that part…" Calcifer shrinks even smaller. "And where are Sophie and Markl?" He asks taking off his jacket. "They went out to eat breakfast, Sophie said for you to clean the kitchen. Said she wasn't going to clean for five hours when it takes your magic five seconds, the nerve on that girl." "Yes what a nerve indeed, I guess that's why I fell for her." Howl laughs before raising his arms to magically clean the kitchen. Within seconds soot had been raised from dirty pots, pans, counters and the floor before vanishing into thin air. All the items in the kitchen floated back into their designated spot and a sponge began scrubbing a few dirty pans. The windows opened and all the smoke had evacuated, with a final snap from Howl's hand the kitchen sparkled like new. He took a chair and pulled it up to Calcifer to enjoy some of his heat as well to make some small talk with an old friend.

"So how did it go today?" Calcifer grabs a few wooden logs and shoves them into his fiery body. "Good, exhausting but good. Something this big takes a lot more magic than I thought. Everything has to be absolutely perfect, nothing less." Howl says leaning back in his chair, both of them are silent. The sound of crackling wood can be heard throughout the room as well as a few creaks from the castle moving about. Both are deep in thought, Howl much deeper than Calcifer. "How much time do you think you'll need? I can tell she's been worried about you." Howl is pulled from his thoughts. He stands up, walking towards the stairs. "You can't rush these things, but I believe I should be finished by tonight. I need a break though before going back to finish, run some hot water for my bath will you?" Howl proceeds upstairs before Calcifer has a chance to respond. "Wait wha-? Come on!" Calcifer shouts to an empty room before muttering off to himself once again, being left alone.

Next chapter to be posted soon! I really hope you enjoy the story so far!